Rafting the Lochsa during high water

Today was just a hands down great day.
My current theory in life is just say yes.  When I was invited to go rafting today, I just said yes. I popped over to the outdoor program to rent the basic gear on Friday, and woke up Saturday to trek out up and over Lolo Pass to put in on the Lochsa.  I didn't really have any idea what I was getting into, until I mentioned what I was doing to the bartender at the Kettlehouse last night.  He made it clear that I was going to be doing some swimming.   Having rafted a bunch, swam a number of times, and gone over big rapids, I felt totally fine with the situation. Plus, Eric had just gotten Stella.  A solid 14-footer. A beauty of  raft.

The weather was phenomenal.  The skies were bluebird. The trees were neon green with spring growth.  It was probably 85 degrees on the shore; a bit cooler on the water.  I honestly couldn't have planned a better day to be out on the water. The water was frigid  probably about 38 degrees.  The cold where your lungs feel like they are collapsing when you enter.

To say the rapids were large would be an understatement.  They were fucking huge. Definitely the largest rapids I've ever run.  And the fact that I had no idea about the size of the rapids was probably a good thing. I asked at one point, "Why are there all those people parked by the side of the road up ahead?".  I didn't need an answer. I knew we were headed for a whopper. We greased through Lochsa falls like a wet bar of soap, while every other boat else got flipped. And those are not the kind of rapids you want to swim.  We did manage to flip later on, on a rather little known sneaker wave.  Everyone swam, but we all got in relatively quickly.  On another instance we had 2 swimmers, but also got them back without much trouble.

On the drive back up to where we put-in, we stopped to view the Lochsa Falls.  I'm not really sure how the hell we made it through that without being tossed.  Luck and a skilled guide did the trick.  The water was constantly changing and surging.  We must have hit it at the perfect moment.

On the drive back to Missoula, we stopped at the Lumberjack saloon for beers (whiskey for me) and food.  I stayed at the Jack for my friend Devin's birthday celebration.   Just another day in a great place to live.